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The Platinum Card earns 5x on select airfare and hotel purchases, but it also includes many membership benefits.

The Platinum Card has so many benefits that it’s often referred to as a membership card — a card that you keep for its benefits more than its earning potential. Before diving into the benefits for authorized users, let’s consider the benefits available to primary card holders:

Which benefits apply to additional card holders?

The Platinum Card from American Express charges you $175 (see rates & fees) each year to add up to three additional cardholders, which breaks down to less than $60 per additional card holder. This may seem quite steep, especially since many other popular travel rewards cards don’t charge anything for authorized users. However, as you’re about to see, you can easily make this up (and then some) through the valuable benefits that are unlocked for these lucky three individuals. You can add additional card holders past the third, but each additional card holder after the third will cost you $175 per year. Note that if you are adding children as authorized users, only children 13 years old or older may be added to your Platinum Card account.

This being said, you can add additional Gold Card card holders for free to your Platinum Card. Note that this Gold Card is not the same as the American Express® Gold Card that offers 4 Membership Rewards points at US restaurants. Instead, additional Gold Card members get the same earnings rates as your Platinum card. However, additional Gold Card members don’t have access to many of the benefits that are given to additional Platinum Card holders.

A table on Amex’s website compares the benefits offered to additional cardholders.

Here’s a rundown of the key benefits that additional Platinum Card holders will enjoy:

The Amex Centurion Lounge in Philadelphia (PHL) can provide a haven before your flight. (Photo by Zach Honig/The Points Guy)

This can be a terrific perk if one (or more) of your additional card holders doesn’t frequently travel with you, since they can gain access to the lounges by themselves. Or, since many lounges limit guests to two companions — if guests are included at all — it can be a good perk if you travel with a family larger than three. It’s also a great option when you travel on Delta with a spouse or other regular travel companion, since Delta Sky Clubs charge the primary cardholder $29 for each guest. By adding three additional card holders for $175, you can avoid these charges. In fact, you’d almost make up the $175 annual fee for three additional cardholders with just six single visits to Delta SkyClubs across the year — and this doesn’t even factor in any usage that the authorized users would get when traveling alone.

Primary and additional Platinum Card cardholders have access to Delta SkyClubs when flying Delta, but will need to pay for any guests. (Photo by Alberto Riva/The Points Guy)

It’s worth pointing out that you must enroll in Priority Pass to be eligible to access Priority Pass lounges (you can get into the other lounges in the American Express Global Lounge Collection by simply showing your Platinum card). Additional card holders can’t enroll online, and will instead need to call the number on the back of their Platinum Card to enroll.

2. Global Entry/PreCheck Application Credit

Another great perk that also extends to additional card holders is the credit for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) application fees. Just like the benefit provided to primary cardholders, each authorized user can use this benefit once every 4 years for Global Entry or once every 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck. In addition, you don’t even need to use the credit for your own membership; any qualifying charge for a friend or family member will trigger the credit.

TSA PreCheck, which is included as a benefit of Global Entry, will get you through security faster and with less hassle.

If you add three authorized users and have all of them apply for Global Entry in the first year, that’s $300 worth of benefits, which easily covers the $175 additional annual fee. All additional members added to a Platinum Card — both additional Platinum Card members and additional Gold Card members — are eligible.

3. Marriott and Hilton Gold Elite Status

Additional Platinum Card cardholders can also take advantage of complimentary Gold status with both Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors. While the primary card holder can enroll for both of these online, additional members need to call the number on the back of their Platinum Card. If you frequent either Marriott or Hilton properties, this can bring you a decent amount of value, including room upgrades, bonus points and additional on-property perks.

The Hotel Collection provides less benefits, but is bookable by additional Gold Card members. You’ll earn 5x points on prepaid Hotel Collection stays, and on eligible stay of two nights or longer you’ll also get a $100 Hotel Credit to spend on qualifying dining, spa, and resort activities and a room upgrade upon arrival (if available).

5. Car Rental Elite Status

Additional Platinum Card members receive complimentary memberships in Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, Avis Preferred and National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive. You can enroll in each of these memberships on Amex’s website.

Platinum Card primary members and additional Platinum Card members get elite status and benefits with Hertz, Avis and National. (Photo by minemero/Getty Images)

Once you (as the primary card holder) select an airline of choice, purchases by you and your authorized users will count toward the $200 annual credit. However, each additional card holder doesn’t get his/her own $200 credit; this benefit is capped at a total of $200 per Platinum account. Likewise, purchases at Saks by additional card holders count toward the primary cardholder’s $100 annual Saks credit. But, authorized users don’t have access to the primary cardholder’s monthly Uber credits — so the primary card holder will need to use these credits without the help of additional card holders.

Other Considerations

Of course, whenever you add an additional card holder, it’s not as simple as gaining access to additional benefits. It’s essential to remember that as the primary card holder, you are responsible for all charges on your account, including those charged by others. For this reason, you should only add an additional card holder who you completely trust to not go crazy and run up your balance. Remember too that the Amex Platinum is a charge card, so you must pay your balance in full each month (though you should really do this with all credit cards).

That being said, adding an authorized user to the card can be a great way to build up their credit history. This can go a long way toward helping a friend or family member with poor credit, since American Express will report your on-time payment history and credit utilization rate to the respective credit bureaus for every cardholder on your account. Again, though, make sure the authorized user is someone you can trust.

How to Add Additional Cardholders

If you’ve decided you want to add additional card holders to your Platinum Card account, log in to the dashboard for your Platinum Card account. Scroll down to Amex Offers & Benefits, and click “Add Someone” next to “Add an Additional Card Member.”

Click through the next page and select your Platinum Card if you have multiple Amex cards for which you could add authorized users. Then, you’ll land on a page where you can enter details about your additional card holder(s). Note that you don’t have to enter their social security number or date of birth, but this information must be added by you or the additional card holder within 60 days of when the card is issued or the card will be canceled.

Bottom Line

Adding additional card holders can expand your earning potential, but on certain cards, it can unlock a variety of perks for them as well. On the Platinum Card from American Express, it will cost you $175 to add three authorized users, but given the array of benefits they’ll enjoy, this can be quite a bargain. Hopefully this post has demonstrated just how much value your additional cardholders can get!

Know before you go.

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The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Please view our advertising policy page for more information.

Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.